I have felt eternity tickling my feetthrough seaweed fingers -how long have I been here -I opened my eyes too latecamouflaged on the ocean floorI touched the bottom of en-route shipsand avidly drank their trailI collected anchors of past promisesfuture treasuresmeaningless rust.Falling, as waves,I survive, breathingin a state of unconsciousnessand I would even derive some kind of bitter pleasurefrom melancholyif only those choices would not lead me, every time, to the samemiserable trutha foregone conclusion.I wish I did not embarkto this perfect life in turbid darknessand silence could not shake my heart.I am the shield of the invisible beasts,my skin is covered in spines.If only I could stare at the ocean's surfaceonce againand hear the screams of the wavestheir voicesmelodic chorusesare telling our histories.Perhaps one day,when the shores are asleep,I will be singing for you.

Federica Giardino is a 2nd-year architecture student at the University of Strathclyde. She describes herself as having "this passion for the littlest things and moments; coffee breaks, sweaters' paws to hide your hands, finding notes in old books, train journeys sitting by the window. I am a writer and an artist, and I certainly am neither. But, little by little, I am learning what it means to believe in one's self."